1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vaporizer manifold and gas conveying system for an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle and to a method by which said manifold is adapted to heat and thereby convert a liquid fuel into a vapor for efficiently powering the engine, whereby to maximize fuel economy and reduce the amount of harmful pollutants being exhausted into the atmosphere.
2. Background Art
It is well known, particularly in highly populated geographic areas, that air pollution is a growing source of environmental concern. One major cause of air pollution is the noxious emissions being exhausted into the atmosphere by motor vehicles. More particularly, only a portion of the raw liquid fuel (e.g. gasoline) is combusted within the cylinders of a conventional internal combustion engine. Consequently, more fuel is consumed per mile travelled, whereby fuel economy suffers. Moreover, much of the uncombusted raw fuel is burnt in the hot tailpipe of the motor vehicle. Thus, the exhaust being emitted from the vehicle into the atmosphere is characterized by a high temperature and a noxious gas content.
Devices are known in the prior art to be interconnected with an internal combustion engine in an effort to increase gas mileage and/or eliminate harmful pollutants. However, many of these devices are complex, expensive and/or require modifications to the engine.
An example of a fuel vaporizer for an internal combustion engine is available by referring to U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,165 issued Sept. 11, 1979. However, none of the exhaust gases exiting the vaporizer or the engine is recycled to the carburetor. Consequently, the effectiveness of such a vaporizer for increasing fuel mileage and reducing pollution is limited.